NCC: Allar stretches her lead as Alzate assumes men's top spot

Carlos Alzate Escobar cruised to victory in the men's race on Saturday to assume the lead in the NCC men's standings. (Photo by Matt James)

The USA Cycling National Criterium Calendar (NCC) sped through its ninth event of the calendar as riders contested The Tour de Grove in St. Louis on Saturday. After weeks of chipping away, there's a new men's leader while Erica Allar (Tucson, Ariz./CARE4CYCLING p/b Solomon Corp) took the opportunity to expand her cushion in the women's standings.

Carlos Alzate Escobar (COL/UnitedHealthcare) has finally overtaken Hilton Clarke (AUS/UnitedHealthcare) as the leader of the NCC men's standings after winning Saturday's race in St. Louis. Escobar now holds a 14-point cushion on his teammate and a 300-point advantage on Shane Kline (Bally, Pa./Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis), who sits in third with 368 points. The runner-up in Saturday's race, Luke Keough (Sandwich, Mass./UnitedHealthcare), moved back into the top five with 285 points. Sergio Hernandez (San Pedro, Calif./Predator Cycling) rounds out the top five with 238 points.

Allar won a 30-rider sprint to the finish line on Saturday and has increased her lead in the NCC women's standings to 307 points on Laura van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers) after eight women's races. Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich./Fearless Femme p/b Pure Energy) is holding on to third place, 53 points out of second and 59 points ahead of her teammate Kimberley Wells (AUS/Fearless Femme p/b Pure Energy), who placed third on Saturday. Jennifer Purcell (Austin, Texas/Colavita-Fine Cooking) slipped one spot in the standings into fifth place, only one point behind Wells.

Erica Allar topped the women's podium and expanded her lead in the NCC women's standings. (Photo by Matt James)

With 1,850 points, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling has expanded its lead in the NCC men's team standings to 865 points over Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis. Jamis Hagens Berman, which is in third place, is 759 points out of second place and 47 points ahead of the fourth-place Champion System p/b Stan's NoTubes. Sharecare Cycling p/b WheelandSprocket.com rounds out the top five with 156 points, 23 points out of fourth place.

The NCC women's team standings are tighter than the men's team standings. CARE4CYCLING p/b Solomon Corp holds the lead with 773 points while Colavita-Fine Cooking sits in second place with 464 points. Exergy TWENTY16 holds third place with 363 points, only 10 points ahead of Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies. Team TIBCO-To the Top is in fifth place with 259 points.

The NCC winds into its 10th event on May 18 when the riders will compete in the Wilmington Grand Prix in Wilmington, Del. Please note that the Skyscraper Harlem Cycling Classic, which will take place on June 16, has asked to be removed from the USA Cycling National Criterium Calendar.

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